The Producers Guild of America (PGA) awarded The King's Speech over The Social Network last week, leaving a glimmer of hope for Firth, Hooper, the Weinsteins & Co., but probably not enough to start predicting a Best Picture spoiler... yet. A DGA (Directors Guild of America) upset would be a much more reassuring victory for The King's Speech, but the small bit of momentum it carries is probably too little, too late. It is interesting, however, that the PGA awarded The King's Speech, because I also feel that The Fighter is likely to win the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Best Ensemble award, which carries significance in its own right. One would think that The Social Network's dominance would be reflected in a sweep of the major guilds, but that doesn't seem to be happening. The DGA winner will be announced on Saturday, January 29. The Screen Actors Guild Awards will air on Sunday, January 30, and I believe you can catch that on TBS.
Oscar nominations are set to be announced tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM PT (8:30 AM ET). There will surely be a few snubs and surprises, as there always are, but I've got a feeling that consensus thinking is really going to leave its mark this year. The build-up towards nominations is probably as exciting as it gets for awards season, as there's always that glimmer of hope for movies that you'd really like to see make the cut.
Here's a list of some underdogs that I'd like to see grab a surprise nomination tomorrow morning...
- 127 Hour's Danny Boyle for Best Director
- The Ghost Writer for Best Picture
- Biutiful's Javier Bardem for Best Actor
- Shutter Island's Leonardo Dicaprio for Best Actor
- Easy A's Emma Stone for Best Actress
- Conviction's Sam Rockwell for Best Supporting Actor
- The Ghost Writer for Best Adapted Screenplay
- Greenberg for Best Original Screenplay
- Winter's Bone for Cinematography
